Former Air Raid Shelter To Rear Of Numbers 28 And 30

The former air-raid shelter located at the rear of numbers 28 and 30 Yarra Road in Cleethorpes was built in 1916 for Joseph Forrester. Originally designed as a protective shelter against Zeppelin bombings, it is now used as a garage. The structure is made of concrete and incorporates sections of brick garden walls on the north and south sides, with a turf-covered, steel-reinforced concrete roof. It has a rectangular shape, measuring approximately 4 metres by 5 metres, and consists of a single room that includes two entrance lobbies or cubicles.

The north wall features a blocked narrow original door, while the west wall has an inserted 20th-century garage door. Each of the north and south sides is adorned with a pair of ornate terracotta ventilator grilles. The roof is low and segmental-arched. Inside, the room has a basket-arched tunnel-vaulted design, with a blast-proof entrance lobby located in the north-east corner, both approximately 1 metre square in plan. The lower sections of the curved walls in these areas have been removed, and the north-east lobby has brick blocking where the original door was located. The walls are approximately 0.5 metre thick.

This shelter was built following a series of air raids on the town in April 1916, which resulted in the deaths of 31 soldiers who were billeted in a nearby chapel. Joseph Forrester, a borough councillor and chemist, is known for his Forrester's Ferric Food tonic, which was manufactured at his shop on Alexandra Road, now demolished.